DRS. JOSHUA, SAGER, AND LONG
PRIVACY POLICY
2003 APRIL 14
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT
YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
We are required by the Health
Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA) to protect the
confidentially of your medical records, also known as protected health
information (PHI), and to provide you this notice. This policy is effective
We may use and disclose your PHI
for the following purposes:
Other disclosures of your PHI
require your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any
time, but we may have already disclosed your PHI based on the prior
authorization.
You may request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI,
but we do not have to agree to these requests. As a matter of policy, we feel
restricting our ability to discuss your care with other doctors, for example, would
not be in your best interest and would be confusing in a multi-doctor office.
We would not likely agree to such a restriction.
You may ask that we communicate
PHI to you through alternate means. We will honor reasonable requests, but may
ask you to make alternate payment arrangements. Please note that if you
restrict our ability to communicate with you, this could jeopardize your health
care if, for example, we were unable to contact you concerning an abnormal test
result.
You may request an accounting of
all disclosures of your PHI that were not for treatment, payment, or health
care operations, and that were not authorized by you. (There will not likely be
many disclosures that would fall into this category.) This disclosure would
cover the prior 6 years, but would not include disclosures made before
You have a right to inspect your
PHI. Because of the limitations of space and personnel, prior arrangements will
be required. You have a right to a copy of your PHI. While we may give you a
copy of a laboratory result, for example, we will charge to make a full copy of
records. You may request to see or obtain a copy of your minor child’s PHI.
Please note, however, that you will often not have access to your minor’s
records without the minor’s consent. PHI containing certain items, such as
birth control, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted disease, cannot be disclosed
to parents without the minor’s consent. Since we usually ask teenage girls
about potential pregnancy before prescribing medication, there is a substantial
chance that the PHI cannot be automatically released to you.
You have the right to make a
written request to amend your PHI. We can accept your amendment and make
changes to your PHI, or we can reject it. You will be notified of our decision.
If we do not accept your amendment, you can request that we include a brief
statement from you that you disagree with the PHI.
If you feel that we have not
protected your PHI, please contact us. You may file a written complaint at the
contact address below. If you wish,
you may file a complaint with the Secretary of Health and Human Services. We
will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Questions, requests, or
complaints can be addressed to:
Office Manager
Drs. Joshua, Sager, and Long
1800 Town Center Drive
703-471-5340